Improvement in gr



C. CAMPBELL. v v GRAPPLES FOR REMOVING STONE FRUM BQRED WELLS.

N0.176,737. Patented May 2,1876.

\NvENT u N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER, .WAQHINGTON. D C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES CAMPBELL, on CAMBRIDGE, Assrenon T0 JAY CAMPBELL, or

DOOR GREEK, WISOON SIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAPPLES FOR REMOVING STONE FROM BORED WELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 176,737, dated May 2, 1876; application filed I January 20, 1876. i

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES CAMPBELL,

, of Cambridge, in the county of Dane, in the auger comes in contact with small bowlde'rs,

which, if not removed, prevent further boring.

My object is to remove such obstructions by means of a simple device or apparatus which 1s portable andenot expensive. The nature of the invention consists in three or more curved,

prongs, which are jointed to across-head, and are expanded or compressed by means of a vertical screw-rod and a sliding cross-head, through which the prongs pass, as the whole is hereinafter to be fully described and shown.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation of my improvement in. grapples represented as grasping a stone; Fig.2, a top view of the grapple with the prongs closed; Fig. 3, a plan view of the sliding cross-head through which the prongs pass.

A represents a cross-head, to which prongs B are jointed, as shown at Figs. 1 and 2. A rod, E, provided with a screw-thread, is tapped through this cross-head A, and its lower end is secured to the sliding cross-head O at D,so as to turn or rotate freely. In this case a tenon is turned on the rod and put through the cross-head O, and held in place by a nut, D, and a washer. The prongs are to be made of steel or other suitable spring metal, and their points curved inward, so as to fasten to the stone to be. raised. The rod E is provided with a coupling-sleeve, F, that an extensionrod, of gas-pipe, or other suitable rod, may' be attached thereto by a screw-thread in theordinary manner, said rod, in sections or in one piece, extending above the ground sur' face to permit it to be turned or operated.

In practice the grapple is to be lowered to the stone with arms or prongs B extended, as shown by dotted lines as, against the walls of the 'well, or nearly to them, so as to pass under the stone. The rod E is then turned, so as to force the cross-head 0 down on the prongs, to bring them firmly against the stone, as shown in Fig. 1. The device is then lifted out of the well, bringing the stone between the prongs. The device is also adapted to remove stone and other substances from the ordinary dug wells. 7

Four prongs'are shown in the grapple, but three or more prongs may be used.

I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent The prongs B, three or more, in combination with the sliding cross-head O, cross-head A, and coupling-rod E, in one or more sections, as and for the purpose set forth.

' CHARLES CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

G. L. UHAPIN, O. H. Amx. 

